1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-processing system, an image-processing apparatus, a function execution authorizing method, and a function execution authorizing program embodied in a computer readable medium. More specifically, the invention relates to an image-processing system enabling a user to use a plurality of communicably connected image-processing apparatuses, an image-processing apparatus, a function execution authorizing method executed in the image-processing apparatus, and a function execution authorizing program that is embodied in a computer readable medium and executed in the image-processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, it has become common to connect image-processing apparatuses such as scanners, printers, and facsimiles to networks. Regarding this form of use, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-63008 describes a printer-user limiting system to limit users who are permitted to use each of a plurality of image-processing apparatuses. In this printer-user limiting system, a terminal apparatus and a printer are connected to a network, and the printer executes a print processing in accordance with a print demand from the terminal apparatus. In this event, the printer-user limiting system controls printability/unprintability in accordance with where the print demand is from. To the network, a server is connected having a user-control-data storing means to register users who are permitted to use the printer as a user control list. The printer has an access control function to store the addresses of terminal apparatuses that are permitted access in, as an access permission list, an access-permission-data storing means, and to control giving the print-demand making terminal apparatus permission/nonpermission of access in accordance with whether the address of the terminal apparatus is registered in the access permission list. Before making a print demand to the printer using the terminal apparatus, the user makes an authentication demand designating the printer to the server. In response to the authentication demand, the server, when the user is registered as a permitted user in the user control list, demands the printer to additionally register the address of the terminal apparatus used by the user in the access permission list, and permits the user to use the printer via the terminal apparatus.
However, the conventional printer-user limiting system requires providing a server and storing a user control list in the server. Having to provide a server makes the system structure complicated. In addition, when a new terminal apparatus or a new image-processing apparatus is connected to the network, there is the trouble of storing in the newly connected apparatus the network address of the server required for access thereto. This poses the problem of inability to flexibly deal with system amendment.